Research: The history of horror films: A journey through time

In the 1990's classical films such as The sixth sense, Scream and seven. It can be argued that psychological thriller took over horror in the first half of the 1990s, and indeed, many dark, disturbing films of this period describe themselves as thriller, not horror. As horror appeared to run out of original ideas, more film-makers turned to re-making old ones, re-interpreting old narratives through a postmodern, 1990s lens.

The sixth sense 

The Sixth Sense is a 1999 American supernatural thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Shyamalan was inspired by an episode of are you afraid of the dark: the tale of a dream girl in 1994 directed by David Winning. It is known that Shyamalan only used the colours red when the world of living and the world of dead would crossover. When the famous line "i see dead people" is said by cole (Hayley Joel Osment) their is a close up to make the audience feel sorry for the boy.Close up shots are used to make the audience listen and pay attention to the character, light is also used in close ups to set the mood of the scene and show how the character is feeling.  

Over the shoulder shots are used to make the audience feel like they are in the conversation and the lighting contrasts to the rest of the film as it is a lighter and natural scene. 

scream

scream, filmed in 1996 and directed by Wes Craven. A masked killer begins murdering teenagers in a small town, and as the body count rises, one girl and her friends contemplate the "rules" of horror films as they find themselves living in a real life one.Scream is a crowd-pleaser from the get-go, its wit is accessible, and none of the references are known and understood by very few. It makes its audience feel like they know more about the horror genre than perhaps they actually do - the allusions are restricted to a narrow band of mainstream American movies from the 70s and 80s. 

 

seven

Seven is directed by David Fincher and is a thriller film that blends the elements of horror and crime genres. taking place in a nameless city, seven follows the story of two homicide detectives ( Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman) tracking down a sadistic serial killer who chooses his victims according to the seven deadly sins. The film takes a journey to one of the most dreadful and memorable climaxes in cinema history, providing audiences with a surprise intellectual and emotional punch beside the usual blast of horror.